Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

The other thing that annoys me is the creation of the perception of smokers as guilty, unclean and as outcasts in society. I have been in smoking rooms abroad where the air extraction systems work extremely well. The only people who bother going in them are those who want to smoke. I have only gone out of a room once in my life to smoke outside in the open air. It is an appalling thing to do. It is appalling to single out people who have a particular addiction especially when we live in a country with many people with other addictions that are equally life threatening. We do not seem to ostracise them to the same extent. There is a good case to be made for the creation of smoking areas that are medically cleared as being suitable for people and that the air extraction system is sufficient to ensure there is no smoke.

Reference was made to doing everything in moderation. When I was party spokesperson on health I felt there was a certain incompatibility with my role and the fact that I smoked. I mentioned it to the late Maurice Neligan. He said that one should do everything in moderation. There was no need to go overboard. He probably knew more than anyone else about that subject.

My colleague, Deputy Catherine Murphy, referred to the smoke-filled rooms of the Eastern Health Board and county council meetings in the 1980s. We were there and the rooms were full of smoke. I am sure it was not good for us. However, many of the decisions made during that time had a much greater impact than decisions made on health in the meantime.

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